Thorndon School

Thorndon Primary School is a small inner city school, first established in 1852. Early last century it was the largest school in Wellington City. In the school’s early years it was originally called St Pauls School and was located elsewhere. Currently it is in Turnbull Street hidden behind Thorndon Summer Pool. The principal Bill Sutton has been working at the school for twenty years, so he has been around to witness all of the recent changes that Thorndon School has been through. This year at the school there are 12 classrooms and 285 pupils, whereas 20 years ago there were only 4 or 5 classrooms with just 90 pupils! The school’s roll has increased rapidly over the years. There are twice as many staff as there used to be, and many more classrooms. In an old building we call ‘The White House’ there are two classrooms, Room 11 and Room 10. Before they were classrooms, the bottom floor was the music room, and before that the whole building was a house which the school bought to use.

The school hall has a lot of history, being moved here in 1997. Our school hall is where we have assemblies every fortnight, and After School Care is in the hall every weekday after school. But in November 1921, Katherine Mansfield’s story ‘Her First Ball’ was published, and the story was set in our hall. ‘Her First Ball’ is about a young girl (18) called Leila who comes to stay with her cousins. As the story goes on Leila is going to a ball (her first one) which she is very excited about. The school hall was originally the Old St Pauls Schoolroom in Kate Shepherds Place. The school has been repairing and renovating the hall since 1999.
As well as being a school with a lot of history, Thorndon School is also a school with excellent facilities, experiences and opportunities. Every fortnight the year 5,6,7 and 8’s take turns walking to the public library and every class has their own computers. In the last few years there has been a number of extension and enrichment groups going on as well. These groups are things such as maths, engineers and young designers. All in all Thorndon School is an excellent school!